The Western Neurosurgical Society is honored to have Regis W. Haid, Jr. M.D. deliver the 2019 George Ablin Memorial Lecture titled “Spinal Alignment: Keys to the Kingdom.”

Dr. Haid grew up in Appalachia and Tennessee. At an early age, he developed a love for farming, hard work and fixing what needed fixing.  He received his undergraduate degree in 1978 from the University of Notre Dame with majors in philosophy and theology, and a minor in classical literature. While at Notre Dame, he excelled at Rugby, being named All American and playing on the national team.

Dr. Haid received his MD at West Virginia University in 1982 where he was AOA and served as President of his class.  He completed his neurosurgical residency in 1988 at West Virginia University and completed a Fellowship with Dr. Joseph Maroon in Pittsburgh. In 1988, he completed an orthopedic spine fellowship at the University of Florida.  From 1989 to 1993 Dr. Haid served in the United States Air Force, leading the Spine Program at Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio.  Subsequently, he joined the faculty at Emory University and was promoted to Professor in 2001. During that time, he was Director of the Spinal Fellowship Program and trained many leaders in spine surgery.  In 2003 he went into private practice and was a founding partner of Atlanta Brain and Spine Care.

A renowned surgeon and educator, Dr. Haid has been visiting professor at 30 universities worldwide.  He has been a Course Director more than 280 times, lectured at over 200 Spinal Courses, and presented over 500 papers. As a widely published author, Dr. Haid has contributed over 135 scientific articles to peer-reviewed journals, has completed 13 textbooks, and has written more than 85 chapters on the treatment of spinal disorders. He is an American Board of Neurological Surgery Scholar.

Dr. Haid has served on the Editorial and Review Boards of several leading journals. His research interests include spinal reconstruction techniques. His research has resulted in over 20 patents and implants related to cervical lateral mass plating, anterior cervical plating, posterior, anterior, lateral and transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion techniques, cervical arthroplasty, lateral lumbar fusion and posterior cervical and thoraco-lumbar instrumentation. His patents include the first artificial cervical spine disc joint cleared by the FDA. His designed implants for spinal reconstruction are used worldwide.

Dr. Haid is an active member and leader within several professional neurosurgical and spinal societies, including the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, the Neurosurgical Society of America and the Cervical Spine Research Society.  He is a former Chairman of the Joint Section on Disorders of the Spine and Peripheral Nerve, having been given the Meritorious Service Award. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Think First Foundation, FIENS, the Neurosurgery Research & Education Foundation, the Neuropoint Alliance (NPA), and the Lumbar Spine Research Society.  He is a former Board of Director of the AANS and currently serves as Vice President of the AANS. He is currently Chair of the NREF. He has given the Schneider Lecture at the AANS, as well as the Penfield Lecturer at the Canadian Neurosurgical Society.

Dr. Haid and his wife Mary Ellen have six children and six grandchildren, most of whom live “out west” in New Mexico and Colorado.  Dr. Haid’s hobbies include skiing with his children at their family cabin in Big Sky Montana, and trying to spend more time at his farms.  He is very active in several philanthropic Boards, most notably the Art Institute of Chicago school.

--J Paul Elliott
Communications Committee